Sprinkles of Life - Birthday Tree

Last month, I felt a class for some scrapping friends using the Sprinkles of Life stamp set.  As part of the class fee, they went home with the full stamp set to keep, so I wanted to make some samples of cards they could make they got home, and this is one that I chose to make.

I *loved* playing with my new Triple Banner Punch and the beautiful little Blossom Accents to add some details to this card.  Even though the accent is a flower, I think this card is still neutral enough to be sent to a man or woman, and to be modified for different occasions (get well, so sorry, missing you...).  The yellow is a new color this year, it's called Delightful Dijon - pretty accurate name, don't you think?  It pairs nicely with the Always Artichoke and Tip Top Taupe, which are the other colors I used.

I hope you enjoyed - thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies used:

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

In Color Chevron Background

Do you ever have an idea in mind, and when you actually try it...it works!?! :)  I love it when that happens. That's what happened with the backgrounds on these cards.  When I found this die online, I knew I wanted to try cutting it out of multiple colors and then piecing it back together.  So I was pleased when I tried it and it worked.

What I didn't think through was how labor-intensive it would be.  You see, I had to run the die through the machine 8 times.  3 times to get 3 white borders, and 5 times (one for each color) to get the all the little pieces. Then I had to glue each piece back in place by hand, but found out that most of the holes are slightly different sizes from each other so you had to find the right piece to put back in the right slot. Needless to say, I'm pleased with the look, but will definitely be saving this technique for the occasions where I have more time. There were actually enough pieces leftover to make a few more, but I ran out of patience for now.

If you're a Stampin' Up! fanatic like me, you might be thinking you don't recognize that chevron background die from our line-up.  And you'd be right!  I usually purchase Stampin' Up! products...after all, they are they are high quality, beautiful and I get a discount.  What's not to love, right?  But every once in a while, something comes along that I just have to have, and we don't offer anything comparable.  That's what happened with this Chevron Pattern Full Card Craft Die from Simon Says Stamp...I just had to have it.

My process in designing these cards was simple.  First, I wanted a color combination that would work well for several cards because I knew I could be assembling up to five of them to use up all the pieces.  I decided on the 2014-2016 In Colors because they look beautiful together.  What surprised me, though, was how different each card ended up looking depending on which base color I chose and how much of each color I added to the chevrons. The purple-based one seemed contemporary and festive, while the orange-based one reminded me of Indian corn, and the yellow-based one reminded me the long, hot dog-days of summer.  That's how I ended up with different "themes" for the focal piece of each card.

Scroll down to see close-ups of each card, and list of supplies you'll need to create your own.

This bird card could really be used for a lot of occasions.  I'm making some cards for a friend to use, so I chose a simple  "thinking of you stamp" for the inside of the card, and left the outside free of sentiments. Supplies: In Color Card Stock, Whisper White Cardstock, Bird Builder Punch, Rhinestones, Dimensionals, Tag Topper Punch, Button (this one is retired, but we have plenty to choose from here), In Color Ribbon (retired), White Baker's Twine, Corner Rounder Punch

I loved the funkiness of this card and thought it would make a great birthday card.  Supplies: In Color Card Stock, Whisper White Cardstock, Rhinestone, White Baker's Twine, Flower Punch, Sprinkles of Life Stamp Set, Paper Piercer, Paper Piercing Guide, Paper Piercing Mat, In Color Ribbon (retired), Tree Builder Punch, Dimensionals.

And finally, a simple fall-themed card.  I chose to use a "Happy Thanksgiving" stamp inside, but any fall, Thanksgiving or Halloween-themed sentiment would do, or you could even leave it blank.  The pumpkin was made of punched-out pieces of cardstock...three ovals of the same size, the leaves from the bird punch, and the stem is the branch from the Tree Builder Punch.  Supplies: In Color Cardstock, Whisper White Cardstock, In Color Ribbon (retired), Oval Punch, Tree Builder Punch, Bird Builder Punch, Dimensionals

 

If you'd like to purchase the pumpkin card, you are more than welcome to swing by my Etsy shop!

I hope this was a fun post for you and got your mind racing with options! Thanks for checking in on me today!  Happy stamping!

June 2015 My Paper Pumpkin Kit

The My Paper Pumpkin kits just keep getting cuter and cuter!  Even though my kit parts are used up now (except some twine), I can’t wait to play with this stamp set even more.  I have so many ideas swimming in my head – check back to see if any of them make it on to paper!  This kit took me a little longer to assemble than they normally do, but it was so worth the extra time.  This kit is from June, 2015, and so far refills or duplicate kits have not been made available, but it’s always a possibility, so keep your eyes peeled.  Even if you don’t have the kit, though, there are definitely plenty of points of inspiration here!  The twine and faceted buttons are part of our regular lineup and can be purchased on my website (Vintage Faceted Buttons and Linen Thread) the color combination of whites, browns, corals, greens and turquoises is oh-so-yummy and the layout could be mimicked pretty easily.  Not to mention the good reminder to create your own background by stamping images repeatedly.  There were four other cards that came in this kit, but I ran out of time so I’ll have to post them when I get them done!  Hope you’re having a great week.  Until next time, happy stamping!

Weekly Deals 8/25/15 to 9/1/15

We hope you enjoy this week's Weekly Deals!

	Pansy Punch Item # 130698 Regular Price: $16.00 US/$20.00 CAN Discounted Price: $12.00 US/$15.00 CAN
	Silver Stampin' Glitter Item # 133756 Regular Price: $4.00 US/$5.00 CAN Discounted Price: $3.00 US/$3.75 CAN
	Gold Glimmer Paper Item # 133719 Regular Price: $5.00 US/$6.25 CAN Discounted Price: $3.75 US/$4.69 CAN
	Sweetheart Punch Item # 133786 Regular Price: $16.00 US/$20.00 CAN Discounted Price: $12.00 US/$15.00 CAN
	Very Vanilla 5/8" Satin Ribbon Item # 134550 Regular Price: $7.00 US/$8.75 CAN Discounted Price: $5.25 US/$6.56 CAN
	Eclectic Paper-Piercing Pack Item # 133778 Regular Price: $8.00 US/$10.00 CAN Discounted Price: $6.00 US/$7.50 CAN

Another Flower Patch Card

Yesterday, I shared with you one of the cards I made for the bridesmaids in my wedding party. Today, I wanted to show you more cards I made using the exact same supplies, but a different layout. These were the cards that accompanied the gifts we got our mothers.  It was fun to have a coordinating suite of paper products to use for gift-giving and thank you notes!  Hope you have a great Saturday...I'm getting ready to head out and weed before the rain moves in.

Supplies used: Stampin' Up! cardstock in Calypso Coral, Whisper White and Old Olive; Stampin' Up! ink in Old Olive, and Calypso Coral; adhesive-backed pearl, paper snips, Flower Patch stamps.

Flower Patch All-Purpose Card

Flower Patch is one of my favorite stamp sets that Stampin' Up! currently sells.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to use it for my wedding stationary.  One of my wedding colors was Calypso Coral, so I combined it with Old Olive and made these cards for my bridesmaids...I made coordinating gift bags and wrote a special note to each of my girls and gave it with their gifts.  They loved them.  As I mentioned, the stamp set is Flower Patch, and there is a coordinating die set.  Stampin' Up offers them together in a bundle for 15% less than what you would have paid for the stamps and dies individually.  Nice, right? I have the die set and I love it, but I chose to hand cut the flowers this time to eliminate the slight white border the dies leave behind. I also used some retired ribbon, an adhesive pearl, the zig zag textured impressions embossing folder, and some retired designer series paper.

TIP: when handcutting images like these, I use small, pointy & sharp, good quality scissors such as our Paper Snips.  Also, I turn the paper I'm cutting rather than turning the scissors as I cut.  This helps make better rounded edges.  Finally, I don't open and close the scissors a lot, and I'm smooth when I do.  Instead, I open them wide and cut until they are all the way closed and then open it again smoothly.  This helps prevent jagged edges from where you start and stop your cuts.  Also, I love to add a little extra surprise by decorating the inside, like this:

If I've inspired you to create something fun with this set, and you need the supplies to do it, I'd be grateful if you ordered from me HERE!

If you'd rather just purchase the card, you're in luck - it's listed in my Etsy store.

Until next time, happy stamping!!!

Lotus Thank You

I don't know about you, but  I go through Thank You cards faster than any other kind of card, so I like to have plenty on hand.  However, recently, I had run out so I wanted a quick way to replenish my stock, but I didn't want it to look just slapped together, either.  Even though this card is simple, the layers of stamping, a small amount of bling, and good balance made this card come together quickly but still beautifully!   While this stamp set, Lotus Blossom, is retired, this card could easily be adapted to any color scheme, any sentiment, and any stamp set.  It lends itself particularly easy to any floral set.  Quick, and easy!  You'll notice I used a rounded corner and similar layout on the inside to tie the card together:

If you would like to purchase items to make cards like these, please check out my stamping store.

If you would rather purchase the card, come check out my Etsy Shop: xoStudioDesigns.

Sprinkles of Life - Rainy Day Encouragement

Last month, I hosted a class using the Sprinkles of Life stamp set and the coordinating Tree Builder Punch.  This is one of the cards we made.  I really loved this set, and wanted to use it in a class because of it's versatility- there are sentiments ranging from friendship to birthday to encouragement, and playful & creative ways to use the cloud shape as a cloud, frosting, ice cream or greenery, and even the cupcake base could double as a basket.  Very clever.  So anyway, to highlight the encouragement sentiment, I chose this sentiment and the cloud.  I decided to use the 2014-2016 In Color cardstock for my rain drops (which were punched with the Tree Builder Punch and covered with Crystal Effects).  I also used Silver Embossing Powder to create a little texture & shiny interest on the clouds and sentiment.  I hand-drew the dotted lines for the rain drops using a Basic Gray marker, and used the Triple Banner Punch and Corner Rounder Punch to add more interesting details to my card.  I based it loosely on a card I had seen on Pinterest.  It had used a retired shower set (Rain or Shine) from Stampin' Up! but I thought it could be easily adapted to suit this set as well.  Unfortunately, I can't find it to give the person proper credit (I'm sorry if that's you..let me know, and I'll give you credit!).  I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy encouragement card. If you like what you see here and want to purchase any of the items (or other Stampin' Up! products), just click on the product name and it will take you straight to my store!  Thank you and happy stamping!

Fall "Thinking of You"

When I made yesterday's card, I had heat embossed & hand-cut these leaves with the intention of putting them behind the ribbon.  But, I decided it was too much, and opted not to use them.  But, I didn't want my hard work to go to waste, so I created this card to use those leaves.  I think it turned out nice.  It's a pretty simple card, besides the fussy cutting, but because of the variety of patterns and layers it looks pretty fancy.  The paper and the leaf stamps are retired.  But we there are some pretty papers and stamps coming out in a month that would be perfect for creating this card.  The "thinking of you" stamp is from Teeny Tiny Wishes.  And the banner tails were cut with my most frequently used punch: the Banner Triple Punch.

Sketch Challenge - Mojo Monday #409

Today was a big day for Stampin' Up! demonstrators.  You see, today we get to start ordering from the new Holiday Mini Catalog.  One of the perks of being a demonstrator is getting new products in our hands about a month before the general public.  The idea is that we would use that month to create projects to show our customers and design classes, workshops and make-n-takes around them....but sometimes, I'll be honest, I end up just starting at it because it's all so beautiful and I don't want to cut into the luscious paper and get my stamps dirty!

I'll be placing my first order from the Holiday mini soon, but decided to get out some of my unused seasonal items from the past few years and play with them until I get can get my grubby little hands on something new.

I looked to the Mojo Monday sketch challenge for the layout of my card.  My original intention was to stamp and hand-cut some leaves to put behind the ribbon on the left hand side, but I decided it was just too much.  So I left it a little simpler.  This card is a great example of how you can keep stamping to a minimum for those times you don't want to get all your supplies out or have limited products to work with.  The paper is retired (from last year) and the buttons are, too.  But I promise you - you will LOVE this year's fall paper (which would work great in re-creating this card)...it's gorgeous and I will be ordering it, so keep your eyes peeled for new projects using it. The buttons are also retired but we do have plenty of pretty buttons in our current catalog, and there will be some beautiful fall embellishments that would work in place of the button. This was the first chance I had to play with our new 5/8" Striped Cotton Ribbon.  I love that it's a bit wider than most of our current ribbon, and that it's thin, which makes it easy to use for different applications.  It's also a little less formal than some of our other ribbons, which I liked for this card.  The sentiment is from Teeny Tiny Wishes, which is my go-to stamp set.  There's a stamp for seemingly every occasion and they are small enough to fit just about anywhere. The button was threaded with our simple & rustic Linen Thread.

I hope you enjoyed my interpretation of the sketch.  You should challenge yourself to play along.  If you do, leave me a link to your blog or gallery in my comments so that I can come see your work! :) Come back tomorrow to see another card I made using these materials. Happy stamping!

If you'd like to purchase this card - or other cards and products, please check out my Etsy shop HERE.

Weekly Deals - starting 8/4/15

Did you get a chance to see our weekly deals?  While they are all great, I'd really encourage you to take advantage of the seam binding ribbon (it ties beautifully and tightly), the In Color Blossom Accents (so cute!!!) and the Venetian Crochet trim (add interesting texture to any project).

1/16" CIRCLE PUNCH Price: $9.00 $6.75	1/8" CIRCLE PUNCH Price: $9.00 $6.75	2015-2017 IN COLOR BLOSSOM ACCENTS Price: $8.00 $6.00
OLD OLIVE BAKER'S TWINE Price: $3.00 $2.25	VENETIAN CROCHET TRIM Price: $7.00 $5.25	WISTERIA WONDER 1/2" SEAM BINDING RIBBON Price: $7.00 $5.25